Method of forming the uppers of boots and shoes.



K. ENGEL.

METHOD 0F FORMING THE UPPERS OF BOOTS AND SHOES. APPLICATION FILED141111.20, '1903.

94"Y895 Patented Feb. 1, 1910.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

K. ENGEL. METHOD 0I' FORMING THE UPPEBS 01? BOOTS AND SHOES.

APPLIUATIOHIILBD MAB. 20, 1908.

Patented Feb. 1, 1910.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.'

WM5/WUR.

WTA/55555'.

K. ENGEL.

METHOD 0F FORMING THE UPPBBS 0I' BOOTS AND SHOES.

APPLIGATION NLBD 11.13.20, 190s.

`L"15, Patented Feb. 1, 1910.

'M c. any@ ma.

K. ENGEL.

METHOD OE EOEMINO THE UPPEES OE BOOTS AND sHOEs.

APPLICATION FILED MAB. 20, 1908.

Patented Feb. 1, 19110.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

- WVM/72751 UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

KARL ENGEL, OF EEVERE, HASSACH'USETTS, ABSIGNOB T0 UNITED SHOE MACHINERYCOMPANY, OFl EATEBSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY u METHODOF FORMING THE UPPERS OF BOOTS AND SHOES.

at Revere, in the county of Suffolk and Com-4 monwealth ofMassachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Methods ofFormstitch ing the Uppers of Boots and Shoes, of which the followingdescription, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is aspeelcation, like reference characters on the drawings indicating likeparts in the several figures. t 4

rIhis invention relates to methods of forming or shaping the' uppers ofboots and4 shoes.

Although the invention is herein shown and described in its applicationto the forming or shaping of the uppers of shoes known to the trade asstitch downs that is, shoes having outturned flanges upon the i1 ers towhich the soles are attached, it will e obvious to those skilled in theart that many, if not all, of the invention may be employe to a vantagein the forming ori shaping of the uppers of other than stitch downshoes. A

The ty e of shoe designated by the term own has long beenl known but hasnever until recently been manufactured to any great extent owing to thediculty of producing a well fitting shoe by any method not rendered toocostly either by reason of waste of material or by reason of waste oftime and labor.

An important obj ect of the present invention, therefore, is to providea method of formin a well fitting shoe upper, and in particu ar a methodof forminga'well fitting shoe upper for a .stitch down shoe which willrequire for its successful employment a minimum of material and aminimum of time and labor.

In the manufacture of the ordinary shoes of commerce, shapev is given tothe upper by forming it over a wooden last, the up er being` drawn overthe last and over the e ge of' a sole lplaced upon the bottom of thelast and being held to the shape of the last by tacks driven through itinto the sole, the tacks extending sometimes through the sole and intothe last. In the manufacture of some types ofA shoes the tacks areclenched against an iron' bottom on the last and form part of thepermanent fastenin which hold the upper to the sole. In t e manu-Specification of Letters Patent. Application led latch 20, 1908. SerialNo. 422,293.

rinci les of thisk are removed from the fore the sole when the upper ansole are united Abyv stitching. In the manufacture of all of themorecommon types of shoes in which the sole and upper are united bystitching, the shaping of the upper by drawing it over a last,togetherwith the use of tacks vto confine the upper'in the lasting operation,necessitates utting into the upper blank more materiail) than would benecessary if the shaping could be performed successfully with onl enoughexcess material in .the up- Patented Feb.` 1 1910. f

facture of other types of shoes, the tacks art, at least, of

per blan to provide a mar 'n of a suitable width for the attachment othe sole.

A further object ofthe present invention, therefore, is to provide amethod of preparing an upper for the attachment of a sole or soles whichwill dispense with the necessity for initially shaping the upper over alast and confining it with tacks, and will thereby. effect a saving bothin upper material and in lasts and lasting tacks.

Another object of the invention` is to provide a method of forming theupper in which the material from which the upper is to be formed will beso manipulated that it will be brought into the desired shape withoutexcessive strain on any part and valso without the necessity for makinthe material flow, as in ordinary mol ing operations, such flowing beingobjectionable since it renders the arts from which the material flowsexcessivdly thin.

The invention contemplates furthermore the provision of a method offorming shapin shoe uppers in which the upper will not on y be broughtinto proper form for the reception of the sole, but in which it willalso be caused to maintain its form un- .til the sole is secured bypermanent fastenings.

With the foregoing and other general objects in view, the invention isherein illustrated and described with especial reference to itsapplication to the 1shaping of the toe parts of stitch down uppers.

One of the great difficulties to be overcome in forming a toe having anoutturned flange is to cause the material of the blank to be sodistributed during the forming operation thatthe resultant toe shallpresent a smooth external appearance, and that the outturned liangeshall be of uniform width throughout :its extent. If it. is desired thatthe toe cation, I may utilize theapparatus roper ange, both forappearance and for the comfort of the wearer, the diiculty of causingthe material of the blank to be distributed in such manner as to producethe desired results Ais increased.

A particular object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide amethod of forming a toe having an outturned ila e by which by a simpleand quickly and eas' y effected manipulation of the blank or of variousparts of the blank during'the toe forming operation the material of theblank will be so distributed and formed as to produce a toe having thedesirable characteristics above enumerated.

In carrying out the method ofthis a liustrated and described in myco-pendmg application, Serial No. 387,168, led August 5,

` 1907, for Letters Patent on an improvement in machines for forminuppers of boots and shoes, although it w1ll be obvious that -thesuccessful employment of this method 1s not .dependent upon theutilization of the tapparatus of the said co-pending applicaion.

" In the apparatus above referred to, illustration of which is furnishedherewith as of suitable means for carrying out the method of thisapplication, I eifect the desired distribution of the material of thetoe blank during the toe forming operation by conining a marginalportion of the blank of substantially the desired width of the llange tobe formed and then effecting movements of selected portions of theconfined margin in defined directions and for the most part in the planevof the said margin, while forming pressure is being appliedto theunconiined portion of said blank.

In the apparatus above referred to and also in the method of thisapplication the forming pressure is perferably applied to the blankfirst in a direction transverse to the plane of the confined portion ofthe blank and then in a direction longitudinally of, or parallel to, theplane of said confined portion. lAlthough this order of steps is notessential to the carrying out of the method of this application, yet inpractical operation there are advantages incident to this order of stepswhich ymake it preferable, as will appear from the following detaileddescription.

In the accompanying drawings,-Figure 1 is a plan view of a machine bywhich the method of this application may conveniently Abe carried out,the depressing lever at the forward end of the machine 'being shown insection. Fig. 2 lis a vertical longitudinal lsection a little to theright of the middle of Fig. 1, the parts being shown in operativeposition. Fig. 3 is a perspective view, partly shall project or bulgeout -over its and such bulging isl usually desirable in section, of theelements of this machine utilized in carrying out the method of thisapplication, these elements being shown in operative position. Fig. 4 isa sectional detail, showlng the toe former and one of the pushers aboutto be brought into operative position. Fi 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2,lllustrating t e operation of the machine when a toe, a box toe and atoe lining are being formed simultaneously. Fig. 6 is a perspective viewof a formed toe with arrows indicating the directions of movement of thematerial of -the toe during the forming operation. Fig. 7 illustratesthe method of attaching an insole to keep the toe in its molded shapeuntil the parts can be stitched together.

The machine illustrated comprises a base orframe 2 adapted to be mountedon a bench or other suitable support. At the forward end of the base orframe 2 is an enlargement 4 having, in the construction shown, anapproximately Ushaped recess and constitutmg an elevated support for aplate 6 which forms the stationary member of a clamping device forclamping a toe blank.

The plate '6 is smooth on its clamping falce and is provided with arecess overlyin that in the support 4 but somewhat smal er, so that itsinner beveled edge rojects over the recess in the support 4. he recessin the plate 6 has the contour desired for the bottom edge of the toe tobe formed, that 1s it has the contour of the crease between the toe andthe sole. A movable clamp member 8, adapted to coperate with the clampmember 6, is mounted uponvrods 10 passing through openings in .themember 6 and in the support 4, these rods being connected at their lowerends to suitable treadle-operated mechanism by which they may be pulleddown and held in order to cause the blank to be clamped between themembers 8 and 6. Suitable mechanism is also preferably provided forlocking the rods in their depressed position, so that the operator mayleave the blank clamped while he is operating upon a similar blank inanother machine.

The clamp member 8 isprovided with teeth or corrugations on its underside in order that it may firmly rip the material of the toe blank,these teet or corrugations third toothed plate 30 is mounted upon theclamp member 8in position to grip the forward part of the toe blank,this plate 30 being connected to the member 8 by a headed screw 32traveling -in a slot 34 in said member. llt will be noted that theseplates have movement only in the plane of the clam ing means, the sideplates being so guide in their slots that they move in converging pathstoward the front ofthe toe blank during the formin operation, and thefront plate being gui ed 1n a slot and by its contact ywith the sideplates so that it moves rearwardly with a clamped portion of the blank.

rllhe side plates are preferably kept normally in theirrearmostpositions by s rings 36 and 38, the s ring 36 being attac ed at itsrespective en s to a pin 40 on the clam member 8 and a lug 42 on theright-han plate 22. The sprin 38 is attached to a .similar pin 40 upon te clamp" member 8 at its rear end, but at its lforward end it isattached to one arm of a lever 44 pivoted at 46 uponthe clamp member 8and having its other arm pivotally connected with they late 30. Anoffset portion 48 upon the leftand side plate 22 is adapted, as the sideplate 22 moves forward, to engage the outer arm of the lever 44 andcause it to rotate about its pivot 46, thereby moving in a rearwarddirection the front late 30.

v The toe blank c amped between the clam members 6 and 8 is operatedupon by a toe former 50. The toe former 50, of a contour in plan likethat of the recess in the plate 6, is adjustably carried upon theforward end of an arm 52 pivoted at 53 between ears rising from acarriage 54 slidably mounted upon the base 2.

A frame 56 through which the arm 52 passes is also mounted upon thepivot 53 to swing with the arm 52. v Adjustably mounted in the forwardend of the frame 56 are pushers 58 adapted to coperate with the sideplates 22, respectively. Movement longitudinally of tahe clampingmechanism may be imparted to the carriage 54 and the former 50 by meansof the lever 60 pivotally mounted in ears 62 rising from the base 2.

rlFhe lever 60 has an enlargement about its pivot, said enlargementbeing provided with circular shoulders eccentric to the pivot of thelever, and links 64, each connected at one end to the ivot 53, haveopenings at their other ends into which the shoulders upon the lever 60tit. Rotation of the lever 60 about its pivot therefore impartslongitudinal movement to the carriage 54, forward movement beingimparted to the carriage when the lever is depressed and rearward whenit is raised. I l

rlhe toe former 50, when not in use, is adapted to rest upon a steampipe 66 shown in section inplFig. 2. rlhe steam pipe 66 passes throughthe' support '4 below the clamp member 6 and is adated to heat thesupport and its attached am 'members A depressing lever 68 pivote atv70in a forked post 7 2 integral with the support 4 at its forward en,carries an engaging block 7 4 adapted to engage and depress the toeformer 50- as it rests upon the toe blank clamped between the clampmembers 6 and 8. The` action of the depressing lever is only temporary,the toe former 50, after it has been depressed sufficiently-by the deressing lever, being moved forward by the ever 60 until its forward 4endlies under the overhangin part of the clamp plate 6 by which it is eptin its depressed position.

The shape of the recess in the clamp plate 6 is determined not only bythe style of the .shoe for which it molds the toe, but also by thedifferin characteristics of the right and left shoes o a pair. llf,therefore', a toe is to be molded which is not symmetrical," two moldingdevices are `preferably employed, one for the toe of the right shoe andthe other for the toe of the left shoe of a pair. Furthermore, it isadvanta eous to provide several of these molding operator,`in order thatthe former maybe allowed to remain in the toe after it has shaped ituntil the material of the toe hasadapted itself to, or set to, its newform.

The loperation of the mechanism hereinbefore described in carrying outthe method of this application is as follows: A Vsuitable toe blank ofthe material of the upper alone, as shown in Fig. 4, or made up of upperma-4 terial together -with -a blank for a box toe and a blank for alining, as shown vin Fig. 5, is clamped along its outer edge between theclamp members 6 and 8, the clamped portions of the blank lyingapproximately 1n one plane and the unclamped portions of the blankpreferably saggin somewhat below the clamped portions. s the blank is-placed upon the lower clamp member 6 in position to be clamped, theWidth of the flange to be formed is gaged from the inner edge of themember 6 in any suitable way,

-as, for example,. by extending the edge of evices for each` lll@ andframe 56 have previously been raised.

'overhanging edge of the clamp plate 6. The

toe former 50 is then moved forward by means of the lever 60, and as itmoves forward the pull on the portions of the clamped material alonthesides of the toe blank will cause the p ates 22, 22 to move forwardwith the toe formed. This movement of the plates 22, 22 will eiectorpermit the forward movement of the portions of the ange along thesides of the toe which are held by saidrplates, these portions movinfreely over the smooth plate 6. As the le t-hand plate 22 moves forwardwith the toe former, the engagement of its offset part 48 with the lever44 will cause thefront plate 30 to move rearwardly, carrying with it theportion of the toe blank clamped between it and the plate 6. Shouldthe'side plate 22, 22 for any reason fail to move forward under the pullof the material, due to the action of the toe former 50, the pushers 58upon the front of the frame 56 will engage their rearv ends and pushthem positively forward. A redetermined movement of selected portions ofthe flange in its own plane is thus insured. I

It will be noted by an inspection of Figs. 2, 3 and 5 that the rearwardmovement of the front toothed plate 30 will cause some of the -materialclamped by it `to be moved so that 1t can be pulledv over the edge ofthe plate 6 by the forward movement of the former 50 and thus beI usedin forming the bulge at the front of the toe over the ange. It willbefurther noted by an inspection of Fig. 1 that the forward movement ofthe side plates 22, 22 and the rearward movement ofthe front plate 30will cause a gathering in, or puckering of the material in the' regionof the sharply rounded corners of the toe. This gathering in or.puckering of the material in this region and moving of the materialheld by the front plate 30 into a position Where it may be utilized informin the bulge'facilitates the proper shaping o the toe, and tends toequalize the strain on the different parts of the blank in the toeforming operation.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited toa movement, inthe toe formingv4 operation, of the particular selected portions of themargin here illustrated, but that it comprehends broadly thepredetermined movement .in the plane of the margin of such selectedportions in such selected directions as will in any way facilitate theforming of a properly shaped'toe having a flange, or the predeterminedfeeding from one region to another of material which will facilitate theshaping operations in that other region.

The position ofthe eccentric shoulders such tempering is not essentialto the successful employment of this method. It will be noted that theheating means 1s so arranged that it heats the clamping means and pushforward the former 50 the that it also imparts heat to the material ofthe toe while the toe former is locked in its depressed position duringthe toe forming operation. The inside of the toe blank an the adjacentsides of the toe stiffener and toe lining are preferably provided withcement, so that they are both pressed into shape and cemented togetherwhen the form-l ing pressure is applied during the toe formingoperation.

After the toe has been allowed to set to its new form, while the formeris locked in its depressed position and while the lange is held betweenthe clamp members by any suitable means for holding the upper clampmember in depressed position, the former 1s withdrawn, the upper clampmember released "so that it may be restored to its uppermost position bythe spring surrounding the rods 10 and an innersole provided with cementalong the edge of its inner face is laid upon the flange of the toelying upon the ther fastened together/ by stitches.

It is obvious that with material which may be stretched considerably, atoe shaped like that shown in Fig. 5 may be formed with mechanism ofthis type in which no part of the clamping surface is movable in -itsown plane, and the invention should be understood to comprehend,therefore, a method with which such a clamping mechanism could beemployed. It is also obvious that the relative movement of the' clampand the toe former which causes the bulge of the toe ,over the flangemay be efected 1n other ways, as, for example, by

providing a movable clamping means.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the Unit-ed States is:

1. That improvement in the art of preparing a shoe upper for theattachmentof the sole which consists in confining a marginal portion ofthe toe part of the shoe upper, effecting a relative movement of theconfined and unconfined portions of said toe part of the upper in adirection transverse to the plane of the confined portion and theneffecting a relative movement of said confined and uneonfined portionsof the toe part of the upper in a direction substantially parallel tothe plane of the confined portion.

2. 'lhatl improvement in the art of preparing a shoe upper for theattachment of the sole which consists in confining throughout its extentthe marginal portion of the 'toe part of the shoe upper, effecting arelative movement of the confined and unconfined portions of said toepart of the upper in a direction transverse to the plane of the confinedportion and then effecting a relative movement of said confined andunconfined portions of the toe part of the upper in a directionsubstantially parallel to the plane of the conned portion.

3. That improvement in the method of preparing a shoe upper for theattachment of the sole which consists in confining the marginal portionof the toe part of an upper, pressing the unconfined portion of said toepart out of theplane of said confined portion and then pressing saidunconfined portion forward relatively to said confined portion to form abulge at the front and sides of the toe.

4. That improvement in the art of preparing a shoe upper for theattachment of the sole which consists in confining a marginal portion ofthe' toe part of the shoe upper, of a Width corresponding to the desiredwidth of an outturned flange to be formed upon the said upper.v edectinga relative movement of the confined and unconfined portions of said toepart of the upper in a direction transverse to the plane of the confinedportion and theneffecting a relative movement of said confined andunconfined portions of the toe part of the upper in a directionsubstantially parallel to the plane of the confined portion whereby atoe is formed havinga bulge over the outturned flange.

5. The method of forming shoe uppers which consists inconfining. amarginal portion of an upper blank, applying forming pressure to anunconfined portion of said blank and moving selected portions of theconned margin in the plane of said margin during the application of theforming pressure.

- 6. The method of forming shoe uppers which consists in confining amarginal portion of an upper blank, applying forming pressure to anunconfined portion of said blank and moving selected portions of the'portions f the margin into the field of operation of the formingpressure during the application of said forming pressure.

8. The method of forming a toe having an outturned flange, whichconsists in confining a marginal portion of a toe blank of substantiallythe Width of the desired flange, applying forming pressure to theunconfined portion of said blank and reducing the peripheral length ofthe margin during the application of the forming pressure.

9. The method of forming a toe having an outturned flange, whichconsists in confining a marginal portion of a toe blank of substantiallythe desired Width of the fiang'eto be formed, applying forming pressureto the unconfined portion of said flange and edectinga relative movementto each other of portions of the confined margin in the plane of saidmargin during the application of the l forming pressure.

10. The method of forming a toe having mes Ian outturned flange, whichconsists in confining a marginal portion of a toe blank of substantiallythe desired Width of the flange to be formed, applying forming ressureto the unconfined portion of said lank and controllably moving themargin While the forming pressure is being app ied. t

11. rlhe method of formin a toe having av flange which consists lin con'ning the marginal portion of a toe blank to form the flange, bringingforming pressure to bear upon the unconfined portion of said blank andtransferring forwardly during the forming operation portions of themargin at the` sides of the toe.

12. The method of forming a toe having a i flange Wh'ichconsists inconfining themarginal portion of a toe blank against movement out of itsown plane, effecting a relative movement of the confined and unconfinedportions of said blank in a direction transverse to the plane of themargin and then eecting a relative movement of parts of said margin inthe plane of said margln.

13. The method of forming a toe having a I' flange which consists inconfining the marinai portion of a toe blank to form' the ange, bringinforming pressure to bear upon the uncon ed portlon of said blank in adirection transverse to the plane of the conned portion While holdingsaid confined portion against movement out of its plane, bringing ormingpressure to bear upon the blank in a directlon substantially parallel tothe plane of the confined portlon, moving yportions of the .marginin itsown plane .the confined portion, then in a direction substantiallyparallel to said plane, and gathering in the material along'the iiangeline during the forming operatipn.

1'5. The method of formlng a toe having an outturned {iange and a creasebetween the toe and its flange, which' consists inrso mav npulating atoe blank relatively to a fixed 20 crease line that portions of theblank which are to form the iange are moved relatively to each otheralon said line as the portion ,which is to form te toe proper is causedto bulge out over said line.

16. That improvement in the art of making shoes which consists inconninga marginal portion of a shoe upper to-form an outturned flan e,formin the unconfmed portions into t e desired shape of. the fin ishedupper after the confining operation, partially releasin the confinedportion and temporarily attac g an insole to the outturned flange tohold the upper to its proper outturned flange, and again confining saidliange to ether with the insole until attachment of t e flange andinsole is effected.

18. That im rovement in the art of making shoes which consists inconfining the marginal portion of a shoe up er to form an outturned=flane, forming t e uncontined portions into t e desired shapeof the iinlshedupper after the confining operation,

permittmg the flange and unconned portions to set in their formed shape,partially releasing the confined portion and temporarily attaching aninsole to the outturned flan e to hold the upper to its proper outlinewhie permanent fastening of the insole and flange 1s beingfeected.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

I KARL ENGEL. Witnesses: y

H. Donsn SPENCER,

FREDERICK L. EDMoNDs.

